Grenfell: Gove tells dodgy developers ‘we are coming for you’ as they’re forced to foot the bill for cladding crisis January 10, 2022 Michael Gove has sent a stark warning to property developers that have profited from installing dangerous cladding, like that was used in the Grenfell tower, telling them that “we are coming for you” as he unveils his plan to make them pay for cladding refurbishments across the UK. Gove told MPs today that the burden [...]
Westminster committee calls for FCA probe into Woodford Fund collapse to finish quickly January 10, 2022 The head of a major Westminster committee has called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to quickly finish its probe into the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund in 2019. Treasury Select Committee chair and Tory MP Mel Stride today said in a letter to the FCA that he expects the watchdog “to ensure [...]
Number 10 calls for ‘restraint’ on MPs pay rise in face of planned £2,000 increase January 10, 2022 Downing Street has today called on parliament’s standards body to “show restraint” and not give MPs a large pay rise in April given the current cost of living crunch faced by families. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is set to increase MPs’ pay by £2,000 on 1 April in line with public sector pay [...]
Government spending billions ‘with no idea about value’, says watchdog head January 10, 2022 Government ministers are not properly evaluating projects that cost billions of pounds, according to the chief of parliament’s spending watchdog. National Audit Office (NAO) boss Gareth Davies says that government often has too “little information” on “what difference is made by the billions of pounds being spent”. Davies wrote in The Times that he was concerned [...]
Johnson says lateral flow tests will be free ‘as long as they’re very important’ to stop Covid spread January 10, 2022 Lateral flow tests will remain free in the UK for “as long as they’re very important” to stop the spread of Covid-19, Boris Johnson has said. The Prime Minister said the tests are “one of our most important lines of defence” and that “we’ve got to make sure we see off Omicron” in response to [...]
As London passes the peak and transport reopens, could it really be a happy new year? January 10, 2022 London may be emerging from the worst of the new Covid-19 peak, with the capital’s public health boss saying London appears to be past the peak of infections and vital transport infrastructure kicking back into gear today. Professor Kevin Fenton, London’s public health director, said the data suggests “we may have passed or are at [...]
HSBC holding shares in China firm linked to human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims January 9, 2022 HSBC holds more than £2m worth of shares in a subsidiary of a China paramilitary organisation that has been accused of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims, it has been revealed. The British bank has £2.2 million of shares in Xinjiang Tianye, which is a chemicals and plastics company, for an anonymous client. The firm’s parent [...]
Senior Tory warns of backbench revolt if Johnson does not soon drop Covid restrictions January 9, 2022 A senior Tory MP has warned Boris Johnson that there will be a major backbench revolt against him if the current Covid restrictions are not dropped by the end of the month. Mark Harper, who is the chair of the lockdown sceptic Tory Covid Recovery Group, said Johnson should drop mandatory face masks in indoor [...]
Trevelyan to travel to India to discuss post-Brexit trade deal January 9, 2022 International trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan will travel to India on Wednesday in a bid to boost the prospects of a post-Brexit trade deal. Trevelyan will meet with Indian minister of commerce and industry Piyush Goyal as a part of her two-day New Delhi trip to speak about green trade, the removal of market access barriers [...]
UK’s green tax burden to increase by 40 per cent during Johnson’s premiership January 9, 2022 The UK’s green tax burden is set to increase by 40 per cent throughout the course of Boris Johnson’s premiership, according to new research from a think tank. The TaxPayers’ Alliance calculates that tax revenues from green taxes will rise to £16.7bn by 2023-24, when the next election is due, after they were £11.7bn in 2019. [...]
